One former Red Sox World Series champion greeted another with two big home runs Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
J.D. Martinez took former teammate Eduardo Rodriguez deep twice in the Dodgers’ 8-3 win over the Tigers. In the bottom of the second inning, Martinez opened the scoring with a 381-foot shot to center field. An inning later, he hit a three-run blast to left field that traveled 384 feet. That homer plated another former Red Sox star, Mookie Betts, along with Freddie Freeman.
The homers were Martinez’s 27th and 28th of the season. In total, he had five RBIs. In his first season as a Dodger, the slugger has hit .266 with 28 homers, 91 RBIs and an .873 OPS. He’ll hit free agency after the season with his one-year, $10 million deal set to expire.
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Rodriguez has had a solid second year in Detroit despite being tagged for five runs on five hits in three innings before exiting with back spasm Monday night. In total, the lefty has gone 11-9 with a 3.57 ERA in 24 starts (138 ⅔ innings). He has the chance to opt out of the rest of his contract and test free agency this winter.
Rodriguez’s start in Los Angeles was particularly interesting because the lefty vetoed a trade from the Tigers to the Dodgers ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Both Martinez and Betts said Rodriguez had not responded to text messages about the decision in the wake of the deadline. Still, Martinez voiced his admiration for Rodriguez after homering off him twice.
Via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times:
“No comment,” Martinez said with a grin, when asked about homering twice against a player who did not return his text messages when the Dodgers were trying to woo Rodriguez at the trade deadline.
Did Rodriguez’s snub provide any extra motivation for the Dodgers? Was it in the back of their minds?
“Nah,” Martinez said. “You know, everyone makes their decisions, everyone’s got their choices, why they did it. He texted me [afterward] and apologized. It was a family decision. I get it, man, he’s got to do what he has to do. We wanted him here, but it is what it is. … He’s a good guy, no hard feelings toward him.”
